


Transcendence

by raendown



Series: Rare Pair Bingo 2019 [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 18:46:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19382599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown
Summary: Promised away in an arranged marriage to the greedy king of their land, Izuna appealed to the God of Compassion, ruler of all gods, to save him from this unwanted fate. All he wanted was an escape. What he found was love and so much more.





	Transcendence

**Author's Note:**

> For the Rare Pair Bingo - god and goddesses prompt. 
> 
> Loosely based on the story of Krishna and his first wife Rukmini, this is meant to resemble less of a story type format and more of a legend spoken aloud.

In a world of gods and beings with immense power there once lived a man of simple beginnings. Born to a family of modest wealth, Izuna wanted for very little that his elder brother did not provide. For many years he lived a happy life surrounded by comforts and he was content in his place with very few complaints. Perhaps a little arrogant, maybe sometimes a little impatient, underneath the selfishness he presented to others there lay a heart of gold that wanted only to please the brother whom he loved.

Until the day his world was rocked and his heart betrayed by an unexpected decision.

Hungry for power beyond his position, the elder of the Uchiha brothers sought friendship with the king that ruled their lands and availed himself of whatever the king asked from him in return. For a time Izuna thought little of this. Always before his brother had considered what was best for him and always he had been allowed to seek whatever path in life made him happiest. That changed on the day he was presented to the king, when the monarch of their land saw his beauty for the first time and fell madly in love with him – or so he claimed.

The king’s love was a selfish, thoughtless thing, worried only for his own desires with no care for what Izuna may want. When his attempts to capture the young man’s attention failed the king went to his older brother to whisper quietly in his ear. In exchange for Izuna’s hand in marriage he offered riches and power, jewels and soldiers, influence and a place at his side for years to come. Seeing such an easy path to all he had ever wanted, Madara accepted the king’s offer without consulting his sibling first. It was his right as the head of the house, he claimed, to determine the fate of those under his care. And unfortunately he was correct.

Unhappy with this decision, Izuna pleaded with his brother not to make him do this. The king was not a kind man, he said. The king would not treat him well but would make him unhappy. Madara did not listen.

In desperation Izuna fled to the temple of the God of Compassion, Tobirama. On his knees he prayed at the altar for many hours, confiding his worries to the ruler of the gods, begging with all his heart for Madara’s will to be turned aside. From sunup to sundown he poured out his heart but, to his devastation, received no answer. With the heaviness of fate in every step he left the temple thinking himself doomed to a life he had never wanted with no one to hear his cries of despair.

Yet there was someone who had listened, unbeknownst to him. Though he had not shown himself the God of Compassion was sworn to listen to all who prayed for his aid and he had taken heed of Izuna’s plight. He found himself confused and intrigued by the passion in the young human’s words. To have someone plead so strongly against their own marriage prospect was foreign to him, something he had yet to witness in all of the many arrangements he had blessed. So unusual was it that the god Tobirama vowed to watch over Izuna.

So it was that Tobirama watched from afar to learn what he could of this fascinating human and the situation he struggled so desperately to escape. And the longer he watched the more deeply he fell in love with this human who turned his nose up in someone’s face and then granted them favors when their back was turned. Izuna was beautiful to the others of his kind but to a god it was his soul that shined the brightest and it wasn’t long before Tobirama knew that he wanted to meet with this man. That he had to know this man who could surprise even a god with his actions. Truly Izuna must be one of a kind, surely they must be destined to meet.

He appeared before Izuna on a hot summer evening with little fanfare for Izuna was not one to be impressed by those who thought too highly of themselves.

“I am the God of Compassion,” he said, “and I have heard you words. Your plight has touched me and I have come to grant you the freedom you prayed for so fervently. Ask of me, young Izuna, and I shall grant your wishes.”

“Oh highest of gods I ask only that you free me from this unwanted marriage to a man who desires nothing more than the pleasures of my body.”

With a magnanimous nod Tobirama vowed, “As I have promised so shall I do. Tell me, Izuna of the Uchiha family, where do you wish to go.”

The question gave Izuna pause and he admitted that he had nowhere else to go but that surely anywhere must be better than to spend the rest of his days chained to a selfish and pompous king. His answer brought thoughtfulness to the supreme god’s face.

“I would not wish to see you untethered and alone in this world. Seven days from now I will ask you again where you wish to go and your answer shall be my will.”

But that was not all there was to the god’s promise. For six days Tobirama returned to visit with this human who had captured his attention and for six days they spent many hours together. Izuna wove tales of his people and the great myths of their land. In return Tobirama recounted the beginning of the world and told stories of the gods’ cavorting. So well did they get along that the seventh day arrived almost as a surprise and still Izuna had not taken a moment to think of a place he might flee to in order to escape his unwanted marriage.

And yet something had begun to grow between them as they spent their days together and as he learned more about the god who promised to solve his problems Izuna finally recognized the warmth that was blossoming under his breast. On the morning of the seventh day he went to his brother the moment he woke with his heart in his hands.

Calling upon their brotherly bond he confessed that he had fallen deeply in love with the God of Compassion himself and asked that he be unbound from the king he did not want so that he might follow the path to happiness. But his brother refused him and forbade him from ever seeing Tobirama again. Izuna could see that his brother had been blinded by the promise of riches, taken in by false promises until he forgot the things that should truly matter. Though it hurt him Izuna knew what he had to do.

When Tobirama came to him that day with a patient smile he asked the question as he had promised to; where did Izuna wish to go if he were taken away from here?

“I would stay by your side,” Izuna told him and Tobirama received him happily, both of their hearts’ desires fulfilled.

Borne by a golden chariot they fled the Uchiha estate to the place where the gods made their home. There they alighted and were together and they both were happy to have found the other half of their soul. Their union was one of partnership and equality, a give and take that spoke to many happy years ahead of them.

Yet not all were pleased. In the kingdom from whence he fled the suitor Izuna had scorned burned hot with rage and shame, filled with insult to be so callously rejected and humiliated to have been judged as less than a god. All his life had his subjects worshipped him and told him that he, their king, was like unto a god himself. To have his intended flee the rich life he offered for the hand of another left a darkness that rotted in him until he could bear it no longer. Filled with rage, he made a plan.

In secret he called his forces together and amassed a great army. The kingdom was large and his influence strong, far-reaching. Word was sent by a secret messenger to the Uchiha estate where Madara was called upon to test his loyalty. Would he support his king in this hour of need or would he break all bonds of fealty and stand by the brother who had betrayed them both? Madara's answer was swift and short. He marched for the capital the very next morning with as many strong men as he had to offer riding at his back for he too had felt spurned by Izuna’s quiet exit which cost him his path to riches and power.

When all of his forces had been gathered and the points of their swords stretched from horizon to horizon the king bade his servants to fall on their knees and pray.

“Pray to the god of compassion that he come and meet his doom. Beseech him appear and face the calamity that he hath wrought for I declare that I will wage war upon he who has stolen what is rightfully mine.”

In the home of the gods Tobirama heard the prayers of those who sent him worship, as he listened always to the words spoken to him, and in these words he found amusement. How very much the king must think of himself to challenge a god, to declare war on the heavenly host. With laughter on his lips he went to Izuna and told him what prayers had reached his ears but instead of mirth he was met with fear that he quickly tried to sooth. No mortal could hope to meet a god in battle and triumph, he assured his love.

Still Izuna’s worries were not soothed. He worried for the crops that would not grow with so many men gone to war, for the wives that wept over husbands who might never return. More than his divine lover he knew the effect that war could have on the peoples below them and this was not what he had wanted when he fled his own situation.

Izuna begged Tobirama to put a stop to this without letting it go any further and Tobirama, seeing that this was truly important to him, agreed. Moved as he was by the emotion in Izuna’s voice, how could he do less than anything his beloved asked of him? With utmost confidence in his own abilities he girded himself for war and selected the finest weapons from his holy arsenal. As he made to leave he was stopped by a gentle hand and the press of soft lips against his cheek – and surely no wine could ever taste as sweet as having the love of this man at his side.

He listened gravely to Izuna’s warnings to be careful. To remind him of his purpose Izuna tore a strip of silk from his own clothing to tie around Tobirama’s wrist as a symbol of his favor for all to see. With courage roaring like a fire in his breast Tobirama set out from the place where the gods made their home and mounted the same golden chariot with which he had carried them both to a peaceful escape not so long ago.

The battlefield stretched out before him with grave silence when he alighted upon the earth, endless miles of spears and swords standing in orderly rows before the wicked king who hid behind their might. In disgust Tobirama called upon the king to face him like a man rather than hide behind others.

In answer the king sent his champion to face Tobirama in battle – Madara of the Uchiha family, the brother spurned. And although several attempts were made with honeyed words and sincere reassurances that Izuna’s life was happy and safe now Madara was not to be soothed or deterred from his path. So strongly did he perceive some injustice done to himself in his brother’s refusal to marry for his gain that Madara was willing to throw his life away meeting swords with a god.

When it became clear that words would not spare him from this ridiculous farce Tobirama unsheathed his blade and lifted his shield. Gird in armor from a heavenly forge, armed with weapons shaped from a fallen star, it was little wonder that the battle swayed easily in his favor almost the very moment it commenced. Yet he found himself surprised by Madara's skill. Far from the pampered and lazy noble he had expected, his opponent demonstrated great skill from the first clash of their blades and it quickly became clear that they were a better match in battle than anyone could have predicted. What should have been a quick and resounding victory became a struggle for the highest of stakes.

For Tobirama had given his word when he accepted the challenge and it burned in his heart to know that if he fell in this battle it would be the end of Izuna’s freedom, that to be vanquished now would doom his beloved for the rest of his pitiless life. Such a thing could not come to pass.

And yet his arms grew tired. His parries grew weak. So long had it been since there was need for him to take up sword and shield that Tobirama found he had forgotten the rigors of war. It did not take long for Madara to sense that victory may have been closer to his grasp than many believed. His grimace of exertion became the feral grin of a creature on the hunt, a predator that senses the weakness of its prey. With a great war cry he brought all of his skill to bear and pushed forward in a relentless attack that drove the god of compassion back until his knees folded and he knelt upon the earth with both arms raised to protect himself.

Then it was that a breeze happened across the sandy plain where they had made their battlefield and lifted the scrap of silk tied about Tobirama’s pale wrist. Vibrant red woven with golden thread, an outfit he had willed in to existence to match the fiery passion of his lover’s heart.

“For Izuna,” he whispered and Madara paused in his wrath.

“For Izuna,” he murmured and the strength returned to his arms and his legs.

“For Izuna,” he declared and a fire was stoked inside him that could not be dimmed.

“For Izuna!” he roared and his purpose was made anew, the love he felt rushing through him and giving him the power to push himself back to his feet and drive Madara away.

As though the Fates themselves had blessed him Tobirama gathered his godly strength and brought all of his skill to bear until it was Madara kneeling in the dirt with a blade at his neck, begging for mercy he did not deserve. Yet Tobirama granted him mercy – of a sort.

Long was the noble Madara's hair, long enough to brush the back of his knees for all who looked upon him to see that he had yet to be defeated in battle. And firm was Tobirama’s grasp as he held the cruel brother’s hair in one hand as with the other he sheared it in one swipe of his sharp blade. Madara's horrified screams mingled with those of the evil king still hiding behind the ranks of those he had gathered to defend his selfish cause.

“Are you or are you not the God of Compassion?” Madara cried, weeping to feel the wind against his scalp as he was shaven bare for all to see his shame. “Have mercy upon me! Have compassion as you are named!” He shrank away when Tobirama drew himself up in stern reprimand.

“You mis-define the word for your own purposes. I have had compassion upon the weak and the suffering. You are neither. I grant you mercy in the form of your life, in giving you the chance to repent your sins. Pray, my most wretched brother in law, pray that someday you may understand the things that you have already lost.”

Leaving his opponent defeated and broken, Tobirama turned towards the king’s armies and bade them to part. Seeing the fire of holy purpose in his eyes, they did so, stepping aside to make him a path to the king who had brought them all together. Tobirama’s justice was swift and unyielding. Although the king made an effort to defend himself he too had fallen victim to laziness during the long years of peace and had grown accustomed to having others perform tasks in his name. Whatever skill he might have had in times gone by had long been forgotten. He fell beneath Tobirama’s blade with little fanfare and not a single voice raised in his defense. When the king lay dead before his army they looked to the god before them for instruction, the clear victor on the field and the one they most feared to displease.

Tobirama had no interest in tending to human lands or meaningless golden crowns. It was not for him to take the throne he had so easily vacated. Yet there was another who he knew deserved all the good in the world, whose heart was deep and warm enough to guide these peoples in need of a kinder leader. He returned to the home of the gods to find Izuna with his nails bitten to the quick with worry and his beloved hurried to greet him with grateful relief to see he remained unharmed. Quiet and solemn were his words as he told Izuna of all that had passed on the earth below.

“It is for you to rule them,” he told his lover. “You who were to be their Prince Consort, now you may rule over them as a kind and benevolent King, clever and quick with your heart of gold.”

He listened carefully to Izuna’s worries that this new duty would part them but this Tobirama was quick to soothe as well. Though he may have endless worshippers to tend to and Izuna may have an entire land of subjects to watch over there was nothing on the earth or in the heavens that could keep them apart for he had found happiness in their bond and it was clear to him that Izuna felt the same.

And so it was that the supreme ruler of the gods took his first spouse in a human who deserved compassion as only he could give. The ignoble Madara returned to his estate alone and well-chastened where he would in later years reach out again to the brother he had treated so poorly. Far and wide across the conquered land the peoples agreed that peace and prosperity both had increased under Izuna’s ruling guidance. The land was quiet and happy and all was well.

Thus is the legend of Tobirama who answered the prayer of one in need and in return found an answer to prayers of his own.


End file.
